Transport for London (TfL) has announced that Saba, an international car park operator, has been awarded its car park contract following a recent procurement process. Saba will take over from NCP, the current car park operator, in January
TfL’s car parking portfolio consists of 79 car parks at London Underground, Overground and Elizabeth line stations, providing more than 10,500 parking bays in total across London. These car parks provide an essential service for those who need to complete part of their journey by car, and also provide dedicated space for Blue Badge holders, who can use the car parks free of charge.
As the pandemic saw customers change their travel habits, as part of the procurement process TfL sought a car park operator who would innovate the use of space within the car parks as well as invest in technology to make payment easier and additional electric vehicle charging points.
TfL and Saba will be working together to find new ways to make the car parks more environmentally and financially sustainable, as well as possible additional services to help the wider community. In January this year, TfL began a Car Park Innovation trial which has allowed two small businesses, Lovespace and Spokesafe, to use part of some of TfL’s car parks across London to provide storage facilities to their customers.
Saba, an international car park operator, has a long history of providing high quality car park facilities across the world and they will work with PayByPhone who have provided payment services for TfL car parks for several years.
Lal Bahadur, Asset Development Portfolio Manager at TfL, said: “We are very pleased to confirm that Saba and PayByPhone will manage our car park estate and help us continue to provide a great service to our customers. By working closely together, we look forward to finding new ways to use the spaces that complements the services provided and bring further innovations to the customers who use our car parks across London.”
Phillip Herring, Managing Director at Saba, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded the contract to manage TfL’s car parking estate and look forward to working closely with both TfL and PayByPhone, to deliver a step change to the services and an improved customer experience.”
Rebecca Maisey, PayByPhone UK Client Director, said: “PayByPhone is delighted to retain its contract with such a high-profile and important client as TfL. The longevity of our relationship is a direct reflection of the good work carried out under our previous contract coupled with our exemplary working relationship. Going forward, this direct contract will enable us to work even more closely with TfL and to deliver the additional services they require alongside further customer improvements. We are also very much looking forward to working with Saba.”
